[Duodenal wall cysts and diseases of the pancreas]

Examination of 124 pancreatico-duodenal preparations obtained during surgery and of 250 pancreatic preparations at post-mortem has shown, that patients with chronic pancreatitis do have rather frequently cysts of the duodenal wall (38,5%). These cysts have a diameter of 2-100 mm. They are located in most cases in the submucosal layer as well as in the muscularis propria layer of the duodenal wall between pylorus and papilla. They lead to stenoses of the duodenum in 27% of the cases and they may be considered as a drainage barrier for pancreatic juice in 48.6% of the cases. They are lined with a single layer cylindrical or cubical epithelium; below the epithelium there are located rather frequently tubular glands (49.1%) and sometimes residues of Brunner's glands (7%) as well as ectopical pancreatic tissue (8.8%). The type of epithelial lining points to the fact, that these cysts may be considered as heterotopic formations of pancreatico-ductal tissue. On comparing the groups of patients with chronic pancreatitis with and without cysts of the duodenal wall it turned out that there was no difference between these groups in regard to histology of the disease, alcohol abuse, age and sex. Single cases described in the literature and 4 own cases show however, that chronic pancreatitis may be caused by primary cysts of the duodenal wall.